


Quiet Night

by Tiptoptile



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Gen, Implied Character Death, Mass Effect 3 Spoiler, sad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-19
Updated: 2012-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-02 04:25:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiptoptile/pseuds/Tiptoptile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the end, two friends sit and mourn beneath the moonlight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet does contain major spoilers for Mass Effect 3. If you haven't read Mass Effect 3 and do not wish to be spoiled I would suggest you head out unless spoilers don't bother you.
> 
> For the purpose of this fic I went with the synergy response since that's what I chose with my Paragon Shepard. It felt wrong to make Legion's sacrifice for nothing and I'm not about to let the Illusive man be right about anything. 
> 
> As this is my first ficlet on here kudos and reviews are most welcome. Thank you! :3 This fic is also un-betaed so any suggestions on grammar would be helpful as well.

“We were supposed to have Turian-Human babies.”

Tali glanced over at her companion, blinking her eyes slowly at him from behind her mask. Even under the heavy influence of alcohol she could see that Garrus did not quite know what he was saying. “And how would that biology have worked out?”

Garrus ignored her. “A little boy and a little girl. Maybe two boys and a girl.” The Turian was rambling drunkenly, eyes staring into the dark while the green of his new cybernetics glowed ever so softly under the bright light of their new world. “Garrus Jr,-“

“Garrus Jr? You wanted him to be picked on then?” Her voice rose and fell in the same drunken manner it always did during these nights. The nights when it was just the two of them alone, the ones who had been with Shepard from start to finish, and they mused about what they had lost.

Garrus snorted and shoved her; or at least attempted to shove her. It was a testament to just how much liquor he had imbibed that he missed Tali completely and instead fell onto the ground, face down.

“Shut up.” Came the muffled growl as the engineer allowed giggles to overtake her. He rolled onto his back, staring up at all the stars in the sky.

“Anyway, you had the name for one boy.” She reasoned, urging him to continue once he was righted. “Unless that was for the girl.”

“Never said it couldn’t be.” Garrus pointed out with a chuckle. “No…The girl would have been named after Shepard…Maybe Lola. That stupid nickname Vega gave her.”

“Cute.” Tali lay down on the log now that it was no longer also occupied by the Turian. “And the last boy?”

“Shepard probably would have wanted to name him “David”, or “Mordin”, or “Thane”…For the ones we lost,” He murmured and his voice took on a more melancholy quality.

“I thought Baraka was naming her first after Mordin.”

“There can’t be two Mordins in the galaxy? Besides everyone knows a Turian Mordin would be far superior to any Krogan Mordin.”

“Mmmmhmm. Well when we get into contact with Wrex again I’m sure you’ll tell him just how inferior his son is to your would be son. I missed seeing you get your ass handed to you.”

“If we ever contact Wrex.”

They both grew silent again.  Whatever Shepard had done, it had stranded them here. The human crew seemed to be taking to the new planet with ease and Liara was doing her best to fit in, something easy for an Asari to do. But for Tali and Garrus it was far harder. Not only were they the only members of the dextro-protein races present, which meant they lacked some of the basic necessities that their companions had. Chakwas was doing her best to create more of their food but with the limited power resources on the ship it was not looking too good.

Tali took another long drag of liquid through her “emergency induction port”. “So these children, what would they have been like? I pray they would have taken after Shepard.”

Garrus snorted. “Of course. Wouldn’t live very long if they took after me.”

“Oh good, then there is some hope for them.”

“You know for a suit rat, you’re pretty noisy.”

“I still have my shotgun, bosh’tet.”

“Such language too.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Then they both burst out laughing the way only the drunk could.

“Oh gods, my face hurts!”

Tali was clutching her sides and Garrus’s exclamation just made her laugh all the harder. She swore her suit would rupture under all the pressure as she felt tears run down her face as laughter began to morph into tears of sorrow. How easy was it to imagine Shepard with children? Happy and matriarchal after all the pain of war; after all the destruction the Reapers had caused.  She had to imagine the children would be raised on a proper planet, the same way her own would have been.

But now Rannoch, what she and her people had fought and bled for was lost to her forever. Her people would survive, but it offered little comfort at the moment. “Keelah,” she gasped out. There was a time when she had wanted to be a mother, when she was young and before she had known about the Reapers, before she had met Shepard. “Keelah,” she keened.

And then arms were wrapping around her, pulling her close as she continued to cry. Her mask was fogging up even as her suit fought to vent fast enough so she could maintain visibility. She curled into her companion’s chest, shaking as she let it all out. She had not cried in such a long time, not since the encounter with Miranda on Horizon and the news about Kal’Reegar. She had not had time to weep about Shepard or about the future they had all lost. They had been too focused on survival.

“They’re all gone.” Tali’s fingers curled on Garrus’s collar, gripping it tightly. “ _She’s_ gone. “ Her voice was so broken, so lost.

Garrus remained quiet, letting his eyes close as he let the other’s sorrow wash over him. This was something Shepard would have done. She was always good about that. She would listen, hug, hold…whatever needed to be done so that her crew felt reassured and cared for.

“I know Tali. I know,” he whispered and looked up at the stars, not for the first time wishing that he had been with Shepard for that final moment.  They were the ones left behind and every day hurt. He knew he had promised Shepard to keep on going if something happened…but every day was another reminder of his failure of not seeing her face next to his when he woke up. 

Clutching Tali tighter he buried his face into the cloth of her head covering, shuddering as they mourned together under the same bright light.


End file.
